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Is Animal Crossing now Nintendo's 2nd Most Important Wholly Owned IP
- Thread starter s y
- Start date
Well if they were that in the public eye, people would actually buy their games
Erm, Metroid 1, Fusion?
Seriously, you're comparing Tropical Freeze with Super Metroid, Metroid, Fusion and Prime 1? Even Metroid 2 was considered to be one of the defining games of the original GB.
I disagree with anyone that says AC doesn't have any spinoff titles. Look at Happy Home Designer. The series also has some merchandising out there like the Amiibo cards and plushies.
That said, I can't see AC going much higher than 5th or so on the list of Nintendo's most important IPs.
That said, I can't see AC going much higher than 5th or so on the list of Nintendo's most important IPs.
My favorite series is Zelda, but I genuinely don't believe this is the case. Anecdotally, I'm a teacher, we started our trainings this week and when people who's only "gaming" experience might have been Pacman, Space Invaders, Mario, and Wii Sports start talking about their favorite villagers and trading friend codes at lunch, I think it's safe to say that this thing is a phenomenon. I threw up a zoom background of Resident Services today and had a lot of coworkers complimenting it and thinking it was cute and funny. If I did the same with, say, something related to BOTW I don't think I could've said the same. I agree that Mario and Pokemon are bigger (or, more specifically, Mario and Pikachu), but Animal Crossing is getting there, and getting there fast.
I think among "gamers" Zelda is probably still bigger (just look at all the people before New Horizons came out claiming AC was a niche series), but I think (at least as far as this year goes), AC has absolutely passed into the "mainstream" pop culture demographic that has icons "soccer moms" recognize.
Nah, Mario, Zelda and (if you count it, and I don't see why one wouldn't) Pokemon.
Zelda is harder to argue sales-wise when just comparing games directly, but I'd suggest it has a more important function for Nintendo in terms of giving their consoles life blood. The gamers who play it are likelier to buy other games on Nintendo consoles, there's a steadier stream of releases (there's already what, three Zelda games on Switch?), BOTW 2 is going to be massive, etc. On the flip side my fiancée bought a Switch lite to play New Horizons and I will be very surprised if she ever buys another game for it herself.
Not to diminish New Horizons' success at all, it's crazy how much it took over the world.
Zelda is harder to argue sales-wise when just comparing games directly, but I'd suggest it has a more important function for Nintendo in terms of giving their consoles life blood. The gamers who play it are likelier to buy other games on Nintendo consoles, there's a steadier stream of releases (there's already what, three Zelda games on Switch?), BOTW 2 is going to be massive, etc. On the flip side my fiancée bought a Switch lite to play New Horizons and I will be very surprised if she ever buys another game for it herself.
Not to diminish New Horizons' success at all, it's crazy how much it took over the world.
Absolutely. Tropical Freeze is one of the best platformers ever made, and Metroid 1 is considered to have basically been obsoleted by Zero Mission.
I think something to keep our eyes on for Animal Crossing isn't so much the main titles, but if it can have very successful spinoffs and merchandising. Mario and Pokemon both are very lucrative in those aspects and are constantly getting new games even if they aren't main series entries. Games like Mario Kart and Pokemon Go are phenomenons in their own right.
It appears to me subjectively that New Horizons has pushed the IP into another league. Just from looking at Wiki, the series sales go: Animal Crossing has sold 2.32 million copies; Wild World 11.75 million; City Folk 3.38 million; New Leaf 12.45 million, and Happy Home Designer 3.04 million.
So it's really increased in sales, albeit with the best conditions possible. I agree it's at 3rd or 4th behind Mario and Pokemon, battling it out with Zelda and Splatoon for position, but I think it has the edge.
Personally, I was content to pass on the Switch till all my friends started playing New Horizons. I'm glad I joined in.
So it's really increased in sales, albeit with the best conditions possible. I agree it's at 3rd or 4th behind Mario and Pokemon, battling it out with Zelda and Splatoon for position, but I think it has the edge.
Personally, I was content to pass on the Switch till all my friends started playing New Horizons. I'm glad I joined in.
Animal Crossing is absolutely one of their tentpole franchises, and Splatoon is up there as well.
Metroid doesn't even chart, lol.
Metroid doesn't even chart, lol.
This is a good list, although I would question Splatoons position. Maybe a bit too early to tell, but this should be more clear in 5 years.
Ips go up and down. I remember Zelda was going down fast in sales and the series was revived by BOTW. Link's Awakening remake also sold well being a top down Zelda. Who knows? Maybe Metroid can become a pillar for Nintendo. With that being said, I think AC didn't just become a pillar for Nintendo, but for the whole gaming community. Now, the questions that can be made is, if those people will comeback or buy more Switch games? That will be answered soon enough.
I'm more surprised you haven't seen people sort of acknowledge Metroid 1's influence while saying they don't like playing it?
Yes let's just list Nintendo IP by sales numbers descending, let's forget about influence, impact, quality, history, associated hardware and literally everything else.
I know Kart has sold (a lot) more, but for importance this gen, I feel Zelda might well be top because of what it did for the Switch at launch. This is a solid list though either way.
i bought super metroid the day it came out and it is a top 5 nintendo game for me.
still wouldn't be on top. if we're talking about franchises of personal importance-- sure.
For sure. They're even the marketing focus in Nintendo's crossover stuff.Not counting the co-owned stuff like Kirby or Pokemon, the top 4 kings of Nintendo definitely seem to be Mario, Zelda, Animal Crossing and now Splatoon.
Those are the four IPs most prominately displayed at Nintendo's store in Japan.
Zelda merch does pretty dang well, though maybe it's mostly with the older crowd. Even leaving aside the obvious like toys and clothes, I'm pretty sure it had the most successful line of amiibo (and there were a ton of them) other than Smash Bros itself, and then you have things like the long running Zelda symphony. Heck, Zelda is pretty infamous amongst the lego ideas community for just how many fan pitches they get for it, and assuming Lego Mario takes off, I imagine that's in the pipeline as well.
Not counting the co-owned stuff like Kirby or Pokemon, the top 4 kings of Nintendo definitely seem to be Mario, Zelda, Animal Crossing and now Splatoon.
Those are the four IPs most prominately displayed at Nintendo's store in Japan.
So they own a third of TPC but have 100% ownership of the Pokemon names and designs? Meaning that Pikachu, Snorlax, Cinderace, and all other Pokemon are fully owned by Nintendo?
I think it goes:
Pokemon
Mario (+ Kart + Party)
Zelda
Animal Crossing
Smash
Fire Emblem
Kirby
Yoshi
Splatoon
Donkey Kong
Xenoblade
Star Fox
Wario (+ Ware)
Metroid
Tomodachi
Pikmin
Rhythm Heaven
Style Boutique
Thinking the latter two are still alive and not Chibi-Robo'ed :'v
Pokemon
Mario (+ Kart + Party)
Zelda
Animal Crossing
Smash
Fire Emblem
Kirby
Yoshi
Splatoon
Donkey Kong
Xenoblade
Star Fox
Wario (+ Ware)
Metroid
Tomodachi
Pikmin
Rhythm Heaven
Style Boutique
Thinking the latter two are still alive and not Chibi-Robo'ed :'v
Yeah I put Kart into Mario as all encompassing which is probably wrong but Zelda has definitely strengthened itself as one of the key pillars this gen
Exactly this. It's way too early to tell if Animal Crossing has staying power beyond New Horizons.
the last two installments had 10 million+ units. I don't think the AC franchise will fall hard next installment.
Seeing that reminds how Inazuma Eleven and Layton were huge (Mainly outside the US)...
Incredible how big Level-5 dropped the ball :v
I'm sure Nintendo's decision to develop four new games
- Federation Force
- Samus Returns
- Metroid V
- Prime 4
Across four different developers, for a series that's always struggled with sales—while other IP (some of which even sell better) such as Starfox, F-Zero, Excite, Punch Out, Nintendogs, Pikmin, Wave Race—are just shithoused into the void, is just a coincidence.
Metroid is clearly of no importance to Nintendo.
This is somewhat unrelated, but I wonder how much cash Smash generates between its multiple Fighters Passes and Amiibo? Smash is the only game that consistently receives paid DLC and they only make Amiibo for Smash now, so they must have data that shows that Smash has the most financially lucrative customers.
Probably not, in terms of IP I'd put Mario, Zelda Pokèmon are definitely ahead.
Animal Crossing has done amazing numbers but the effect of animal crossing, releasing at the beginning of Lockdown for a lot of big Western economies can't be understated. It was the right game for the right time and whilst it is a great game Nintendo got very lucky with that release timing.
All of which is to say I think Animal Crossing is more important than it was, but not more important than the big IP that has been around a bit longer.
Animal Crossing has done amazing numbers but the effect of animal crossing, releasing at the beginning of Lockdown for a lot of big Western economies can't be understated. It was the right game for the right time and whilst it is a great game Nintendo got very lucky with that release timing.
All of which is to say I think Animal Crossing is more important than it was, but not more important than the big IP that has been around a bit longer.
I think there's a valid argument to be had that it's their most important. As a single, stand alone game New Horizons has probably sold more Switches than anything else. I also feel like it has the biggest opportunity to continue to grow beyond where it's at right now.
This list makes very little sense. Yoshi as a character might be up there in the top 5 of Nintendo characters, but as a series Yoshi it's pretty mediocre in terms of overall sales, impact, popularity etc (besides Yoshi Island).
Kirby is slightly better, but those two franchises are inferior to Donkey Kong in almost all regards. Kirby at least is more consistent, but none of them have reched the same heights as D.K (critically and commercially).
Also no reason for Splatoon being behind either of those. Or for Metroid being so low.
i was gonna agree w/OP but i forgot Mario Kart and Smash Bros.
I mean, ACNH hit a cultural nerve but only time will tell if this is the new status for the series.
I mean, ACNH hit a cultural nerve but only time will tell if this is the new status for the series.
Donkey Kong Country was the game to own for the SNES after Super Mario World. Not Super Metroid.
Highest selling game non-bundled for the system.
Highest selling game non-bundled for the system.
Animal Crossing always had huge recognition, but this success wasn't made by the game alone, but a set of different circumstances. The pandemic, the timing, everything. It is one of the most important Nintendo IPs for sure, but i think Zelda would take the spot for 2nd [after Mario]. If anything, Animal Crossing would be 3rd or 4th.
I do not understand why people who list Mario and Mario Kart separately put Mario first when Kart has consistently outsold it since the Wii, is a strong incentive to buy a Nintendo console and is the company flagship for both local & online multiplayer.